TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea may slow the pace of
disablement of its nuclear facilities, blaming a delay in the
delivery of energy aid promised under a disarmament deal, Kyodo
news agency reported, quoting a Pyongyang official.

"There is a delay in the implementation of economic
compensation obligations to be undertaken by the other
countries in the six-party talks," Hyun Hak Bong, deputy
director of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's American
affairs bureau, was quoted as saying late on Wednesday.

"We have no choice but to take measures to adjust" he
added, referring to the pace of disablement of the nuclear
facilities.

Hyun was speaking after talks with Chinese and South Korean
diplomats in Pyongyang, aimed at clarifying details of the
six-party agreement to provide North Korea with fuel oil in
exchange for denuclearization, Kyodo said.

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North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities and
declare all its nuclear activities by the end of the year, in
return for fuel and diplomatic incentives, under the
disarmament deal reached at six-party talks involving United
States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

Shipments of oil to North Korea began months ago, but there
have been delays for technical reasons, Kyodo said.

"This is a purely technical issue," Kyodo quoted Hyun as
saying about the slowing of disablement work, adding that he
indicated Pyongyang does not plan to abandon the process.

If Pyongyang gives a full accounting of its nuclear
programs, the United States is expected to drop it from a U.S.
list of state sponsors of terrorism, which imposes economic and
other sanctions on the secretive state.

In a separate report, a North Korean official told U.S.
negotiator Christopher Hill this month that Pyongyang had about
30 kg (66 lb) of plutonium, the Tokyo Shimbun said on Thursday,
citing sources in the United States and South Korea.

Hill held talks with top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan during
a visit to North Korea in early December.

Analysts have estimated that North Korea has about 50 kg of
plutonium, which would be enough for six to eight nuclear bombs
according to conservative estimates from proliferation experts.

U.S. officials have also accused North Korea of engaging in
inappropriate uranium-based activities which can be used in
nuclear weapons.